I like to watch the BBC 2 program "Trawler".Yesterday there was a boat with catches of loads and loads of monkfish.When they gave a close up I saw that this is the rather expensive fish we call sea devil. (zeeduivel)What a strange controversial (?) outcome for two languages so closely connected.

Well, there's information enough about the monkfish,monkfish and it has other( goosefish ) and local names as well, but what surprised me was that the English names are so undescriptive.I'm a visuality addict and I look at the creature and try to see the monk in it. No way.Seadevil, Yes! just look at it! (link) The other Dutch name Hozemond (Hugemouth)(or maybe Heavemouth) definitely yes. Online etymology has no aswer (so maybe there isn't) Sobeit!

It was the word. I didn't choose it for ugliness' sake.If you take a look at zmjezhd's link the monk they thought the fish looked like is equally ugly. (Thanks for that link, zmjehzd)).A somewhat farfetched resemblance , but they may have had Savonarola in mind who was actively brandishing sinners a little before that time and was as ugly as a monkfish indeed.

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